The HonkyTonk cafe
by ROMVLVS
Summary: Remember the Venus De Milo?
1. Chapter 1

Natsumi Mizuki was carefully trying to lift a piece of cake with a knife and a spoon.  
It was a pink colored cake. She had closed her left eye and was moving her head around to figure out the best possible way to seperate it from the rest of the cake.  
Paul stood a few paces away smiling, while a chibi Ginji looked at Natsumi and the cake with lustful eyes from a stool. Ban Mido sat at their usual table sulking.

Natsumi had asked Paul if she could give the Getbackers something on the house. Paul said "Only If you can lift a piece of cake with a knife and spoon without spilling any"  
Ban Mido, had laughed it off saying Natsumi would probable fall on the cake. Ginji had turned chibi and had already started rooting for Natsumi. And because of that, Natsumi had decided to only give ginji the pirece of cake & have the other one herself.  
Regardless of Natsumi's success Ban would starve.

Natsumi had lifted the slice over the cake and she flung it in the air. "There" she sighed, as Ginji floated in the air holding a piece of cake in each hand. His chibi face shining, stars in his eyes, "TADA"  
Natsumi jumped over the counter and plopped on a stool. She picked up a fork and daintily picked at her slice of cake. Ginji in his boy from very saintly said "Ban. You have to have faith in other people too." And then started licking his slice of cake.  
Ban grumbled "Stupid Hevn! The jobs she brings us are the worst! Worst EVER! And they dont even pay anything worthwhile. And its been two months since that harlet has given us any work." He banged his head on the table in desperation as the smell of Strawberry strawberry cake drifted to his nostrils and Ginji's incessant slurping his ears.  
Paul said while wiping a glass "If you break my table, you are going to have to pay for it."


	2. Chapter 2

Natsumi Mizuki and Ginji Amano sat in the Honkytonk cafe's stools giggling. Paul Wang stood behind the counter. Ban Mido was alone at the table grumbling. There were no customers. It was a sunny 4:00 P.M.

The air suddenly turned cold, as Ban Mido spat out a drool of saliva and stared at the door. The small bell over the door tinkled as a gloved hand opened the door to let himself in.

Natsumi bounced off the stool and quickly bowed deeply to the man standing at the door. "Welcome to the Honky Tonk Cafe, Sir." As she looked at the man's boots she recognised him. She, while bowing, turned her head to where Ginji was. He had leaped onto Ban Mido's neck as a chibi and was mouthing the words: "Its Jackal, Ban Its Dr. Jackal"  
Ban stood up with Ginji on his neck. "Why are you here?"

Paul Wang said "Now dont go making an ass out of yourself twice in a day, Ban.  
Mr. Akabane is here for some business. He needs something retrived"  
Natsumi was behind the counter pouring Tea in three cups. Akabane Kuroudo was at his usual poise. Through his patent smile words seemed to slip out like velvet. "Thank you, Mr. Wang. I have a job that can only be completed by the Get-Backers. The refreshments will be on me. Shall we, Gentlemen?"

Ban Mido was a transformed man. For someone pointing an accusing finger a moment ago, He was bowing down to the man known as Doctor Jackal, escorting him to their table.

The three men sat the Getbackers table, their so called office.  
"This will be an easy job. The reason I chose you, Apart from saving Ginji from starvation, Is that it was Ginji, my boy, who is responsible for the loss of the artefacts." Ban Mido punches Ginji in the head and screams apologise. "On contrary, If it were not for Ginji's quick wit and clumsiness, This job would not have been needed"  
"I am sure you remember our encouter. You were to retrieve the Arms of Venus De Milo. And Mr Fouchhin and Mr. Shido the rest of the replica"  
Ban Mido nodded and Ginji said "Yes!, We havent gone too see Hera and Kyte for a long time, Ban." Ban Mido gritted his teeth.  
"Well, What I need you two to do is, retrieve exactly what you lost then"  
Kuroudo Akabane paused a while. "Not exactly that, though.  
I need you to retrieve, not The Arms, but the Replica of the Venus De Milo.  
Its torso. From where you dropped it in the Ocean. Something that heavy must still be lying at the bottom of the ocean"  
Doctor Jackal Finished his tea and Ginji and Ban chomped off their Chicken Sandwhiches. 


	3. Chapter 3

"NO!" Ginji Amano Slapped the table. His usually chirpy voice seemed firm and resolute.  
He had closed his eyes to avoid Kuroudo Akabane's. "We are sorry, Dr. Jackal. But we simply cannot accept this job." Ginji Amano was expecting scalpels to be drawn. Ban Mido smashed his fist on the table. His teeth grinding, body tensed, eyes wide and harrowed. He was the one who would usually make such decisions. And Ginji just refused the job? He was the one who had made Ban take on all sorts of odd jobs, the ones that did'nt even pay. And Ban was sure Dr. Jackal would'nt be stingy. He grabbed Ginji by the collars of his usual dark green jacket and blasted in his face "WHADDA HELL YA MEAN WE WONT!? yOU JUST GOBBLED THAT CAKE ALL BY YOURSELF! WE HAVENT HAD A JOB IN MONTHS." H pointed a finger at Kuroudo Akabane. "Its not like He's not gonna PAY US!"

"But Ban, we cant. Remember, we promised Hera?" "PROMISED HERA WHAT?"Ban Mido yelled.  
"That we wont ever get involved with drugs!" Ginji cowered. Ban pursed his lips and said "SOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO??" "Well," Ginji said while turning chibi, "That body is made with solid Aphrodite, that drug that almost killed Kyte. He wants us to get him that drug. We should'nt help him. Just think what He could do with that."

Doctor Jackal eyed Ginji-kun with a seeming adoration. He was quite fond of this little boy. This goofy little boy known as Ginji Amano. But Doctor Jackal Adored for what he had once been. The ruthless lord of the lower town of the Mugenjou. The THUNDER EMPEROR!  
& here he was, worried about an inconsequential little detail like people's lives. The irony wiped the patent smile of the Jackal's face. In his cold jarring voice he uttered "That isn't why I need the Aphrodite." At the sound of his voice, a chill went down Ginji's voice. He and Ban sat back down to hear what Dr. Jackal had to say. "Aphrodite is more than just a narcotic, you see boys," He slipped out a viel of clear liqiud. "This is what Aphrodite can be converted into. It can cure almost any disease. Makes poeple upto 70 times stronger. There have been tests done." The smile reappeared again, as Dr. Jackal made another ominious remark. "It was quite an entertaining excercise. They lasted longer than almost anyone I have fought before." Ban and Ginji gulped. Ginji managed to ask "You killed the people that were experimented on?" "But they were mere guinea pigs afterall. Why dont you try this for yourself. It wont kill you. I cant have you die before I find out what your real power is like, now can I?" Ginji innocently picked up the veil. And was looking at it when Ban grasped Ginji's wrist causing him to drop the thin veil. It crashed and broke on the table and a sweet wafting smell arose from the liqiud. "He just wants you to turn into the Thunder Emperor! If this thing makes you that powerful, then you are bound to lose control, go berserk! and thats what He wants."

"This will save quite a few lives. Even that of Mr. Kytes. Aphrodite is the base of this Elixir of life. And it is required in a rather large quantity. The torse of Venus De Milo would be the best source for such an amount"  
Kuroudo Akabane slipped out a thin envelope out of his coat pocket. And slid it with his right index finger towards the duo. Then as if spreading cards he spun the envelope to reveal another below it. "An advancement for the equipment you might need, diving gear"  
Ban and Ginji gawked at the 2 envelopes. Ban Mido drooled.  
"Two million Yen, each. And the rest when I receive my Venus De Milo"  
Ban slurped his drool and Ginji blinked as they chorused "REST"  
"Yes. The total of 5 million each. The rest 6 million will be wired to you after I receive the statue. Unless you boys would rather have it in cash"  
As if they had had their memories erased, the same thought went through Natsumi and Ginji's minds. "Would'nt carrying that much money be dangerous? What if someone tried to mob you"  
Almost instantly Ginji trembled as the sight of Akabane Kuroudo's bloodied scalpels came to his mind. 


	4. Chapter 4

"WE ACCEPT!" Ban Mido told the client. Doctor Jackal nodded.

Regardless of the Jackal's presence Ban Mido punched the air a few times and yelled "Yaah,  
EASY MONEY, BABY! BETTER THAN THE CRAP HEVN BRINGS US"  
Ginji still looked unsure.  
Kuroudo Akabane slid out of the booth and headed for the counter. Paul Wang nooded and said "Taken care of"  
As He moved closer to the counter to head for the door, Natsumi Mizuki stopped him. She stood directly in front of him. For a schoolgirl, she was either too stupid or to ignorant, to be standing in the Jackal's way. Actually, it would be morelike suicidal, for anybody to do so.

Natsumi Mizuki was a Beautiful girl. She worked at the Honky Tonk cafe as a waitress after school. She was'nt poor. But was rather useful for Paul to have around as help. And She liked the work. It came with fringe benefits as free food and drinks. She lived alone in her rather large house. With her inheritence and this job, she was pretty well off. And had quite a lot of friends too. Mostly girls, as having been seen with tough guys and thugs like the Getbackers and Fuyuki Shido had an extremely adverse effect on her dating. Not to mention she was seen hugging a very beautiful girl one evening. And she did'nt seem bothered about that either. She had uncannily similiar hair to Doctor Jackal. And as she stood there before him, He only smiled and said "How may I be of help? Ms. Mizuki."

"Well, Ban was talking about you the other day, and he said you need a women. And There's this girl at school. She likes all weird things. And she dosent date coz she she scares evry1 away"  
Natsumi bowed and said "And you went on a date with that girl, and she was even younger than me. The one Ban and Ginji tried to fix up with Kazuki, and she called him gay. Meet me here tommorrow at 5:00 pm, She will be here too"  
Natsumi hopped back to behind the counter, as Kuroudo Akabane nodded. As he opened the door to leave and stepped out, Natsumi mockingly jabbed at him "And Jackal don't kill her, BTW." 


	5. Chapter 5

Pier.

It was a DARK & STORMY NIGHT!

Midou Ban was standing at a small pier off the coast. He was wearing a blue wetsuit till his waist. He was looking for a place to keep his violet sunglasses. There was a white speedboat in front of him. He was scowling as usual. Amano Ginji was staring at the vastness of the ocean blankly. He had no idea where the replica would have been dropped. Ban dropped his cigarette and crushed it with his foot. "HRMPPFF" Ginji looked up and started giggling at Ban, who now had zipped up his wetsuit and looked extremely dorky with his face sticking out of the blue covering. "The punched Ginji for laughing on the head, "The only reason I am doing this is because you have to point me in the proper direction." Ban was a little jealous of Ginji who would be flying overhead in a chopper, pointing to where the Venus De Milo was supposed to be. He wanted to go into the chopper. Ban hopped into the speedboat and said "Ready when you are!"

Ginji walked to the chopper thinking hard. He had to point out the place as he was the one who had thrown the arms and torso of the Venus De Milo in the ocean. But for all his abilities, the one thing that he was not known for was his sense of direction. He would often get lost even in the most simple of places. And this was an ocean, a vast blank ocean. And Ban had not allowed him to contact his former Volts Kings, Ito no Kazuki and Shido, as he didn't want to give them any part of his money. "BURP!" Ginji said sorry as he entered the chopper, at least he was well fed thanks to Dr. Jackal. The chopper lifted off the land and headed to the small island in the ocean. Then somewhere about 2/3 of the way, he broke open the flare and signaled Ban to the location he thought was appropriate. He clasped his hands together and prayed for it to be the location as Ban would kill him if he made Ban waste this much money on a wasted effort.

The island was starkly desolate compared to the last time they were here. And what was that Ban had said about not using his Evil eye to play the violin. His train of thoughts was quickly derailed as the whirring of the speedboat hit his ears. Ban's blue body glowed in the red light of the flare. Ban showed a thumbs-up sign to Ginji as he came below the chopper's tail. Then the pilot swayed the chopper away to the right. And Ban jumped off into the cold ocean. He swam downwards to the bottom of the ocean to find the Venus De Milo. Ginji looked on at the ripples in the ocean.


	6. Chapter 6

Pier 2.

Ban felt something move past him in the water, and then suddenly he choked as the air disappeared from the tube. He looked back to see the pipe from his air tank thrashing behind him. It had been sliced. He shrugged off the air tank and grabbed the pipe to suck in a long breath. Just as he did that, the air tank was sliced off from the base of the pipe. He kicked the water to retreat back. There was just another slash then, on his torso. He looked up to see who or what it was, he just caught a glimpse of the eyes through the mask, but it was enough for him to realize who it was. Mirouku Natsuhiko!

"Why is he here?" Ban wondered. "& how did he know?"

Ban's wetsuit had been breached as the Mirouku silk sword cut into it once more. Ban regretted not putting Mirouku in the evil eye when he had the chance. He felt the water swishing down on him and he reached out to clasp Mirouku's hand, as he tried to finish his long time foe, Midou Ban. Ban kicked him in the gut and Mirouku tried the same. Mirouku had Ban's right wrist firmly away from his body, knowing full well the damage Ban could do with his right hand. They were locked in the position and were swirling around trying to get the upper hand. But the swirling was causing them to go deeper into the ocean faster. And Ban was running out of air.

[Pretend this is on TV & now there is a break. Think of him drowning]

Suddenly Mirouku lost his grip on Ban and had gone limp. He let go of the Silk sword, & Ban let go of his hand. Mirouku Natsuhiko sank into the ocean deeper and deeper, till he could not be seen. Ban swam as fast as he could to the surface of the ocean. As he swam upwards he took in the vibrations coming from the ocean as if something very large and heavy was moving through the water. He grimaced and said to himself "Let it not be a submarine."


	7. Chapter 7

Pier 3.

The surface of the water was broken by a small explosion as Midou Ban thrust his head through it, looking for his speedboat. Instead he found his partner, Amano Ginji waving up at him, smiling, in the ocean.

"WHAT THE HELL HAPPENED?!?" Ban yelled over the wind, salty water gushing out of his mouth. "We were attacked Ban-chan!" Ginji yelled back! "There were mercenaries!"

[approx 10 mins back]

Amano Ginji sat in the helicopter watching the ocean. It had been a few minutes from when Ban had gone under. Then suddenly he heard a swishing sound and saw a round red object flying towards him. It was a warhead. Some one from the island had just shot his chopper down with a LAW. As Ginji braced himself for a blast the pilot screamed and jumped off the chopper. Ginji did the same. As Ginji fell to the ocean, he looked back and saw the chopper blasted out of the sky. He tried to get away from it by trying to glide. As he went a few feet more away from the blast, he looked back again to see the carcass of the chopper crash & burn. Then as if that was not enough, a bullet grazed his jacket's shoulder. As he went through the water, a shower of bullets rained down. Ginji bobbed his head up to see six stealth rafts zipping through the water to where he was. They all started to shoot at him again. Ginji went underwater and swam towards them. They had missed their mark, as they continued to shoot the same area. Ginji was in very shallow waters, and witnessed the shine of steel in the water. They had jumped in the water too and were shooting harpoons at him, underwater.

Ginji did the only thing he knew. He let loose the fury that lay dormant within him. The incredible surge of thunderous electricity emanated from him, waving itself through the calm waters. The water boiled and sizzled around him. The mercenaries' rafts were made of a thin film of metal and filled with air, and they burst open violently. The mercs who were in the water were in for a shock. [pun intended] Their Air tanks exploded, leaving their hurt backs bare to the frenzied force of electricity. Those who had just fallen in the water after their rafts were destroyed fell to the same fate. The best natural conductor of electricity laid an entire squadron of mercenaries to waste.

Mirouku Natsuhiko also fell prey to the Thunder Emperor's wrath.

Ban swam ashore `HAPLESS' now that their equipment was totally destroyed. While swimming Ginji told him what had happened when he was underwater. This was a wasted effort, and Ban was really seething with rage, the Get Backers never fail! Especially if their client is someone they had fought with earlier. "AND NOW I AM GOING TO HAVE TO PAY THOSE PEOPLE FOR THESE DAMAGES!!! AND WE DIDN"T EVEN HAVE INSURANCE! GAAAHHH!!!" yelled Ban.


End file.
